Christmastime in the City

This is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons, one of them being the festive spirit floating around town. The colorful lights, evergreen trees, and other decorations light up the town. The anticipation of their favorite holidays puts everyone in a good mood and the air is crisp and cool. The one thing that could make it better? Snow. Although I agree that after a while the snow gets old, this time of year simply does not feel right without it. I know this sounds cliché and maybe it is, but in choir, we recently sang "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin and I got to thinking; especially here in Chicago, that is exactly what we are known for. Unless it snows soon, this will be the first Christmas in my memory without snow and while by February our only wish is for it to be gone, now that it is not here it comes as a shock. But, I guess that's how it goes, like they say, "you don't know what you've got till it's gone". It's true. Only now that the snow is not here do we cherish and long for it. So, this year when the snow finally arrives, I will be sure to make the best of it: actually play in the snow like I used to as a kid and make sure I engrain in my mind forever the beauty of Chicago in the winter.

Photo credit: http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/27/2756/R9HTD00Z/jamie-wild-main-street-with-christmas-lights-at-night-leavenworth-washington-usa.jpg

Recieving as You Give

This week, I got to go shopping twice to buy holiday gifts for families who are struggling in this economy. While it is nice to give money to charity, it doesn’t feel nearly as good as seeing the money do something and knowing that five more people will wake up to presents on Christmas morning and five more kids will continue to believe in Santa. In two of my classes/clubs we chose to support a family for this holiday season. As we were picking out Barbie dolls, toy trucks, shoes, pajamas and other things, it made me realize how lucky we are. Aside from the toys that the kids asked for, their holiday wish list also contained things such as winter coats, snow boots, diapers, wipes and other things that we take for granted. I never once considered asking for a winter coat or snow boots for the holidays. These were always things I never even thought about not havinassumed would be there come winter, I never gave it any thought. However, in this struggling economy this is what people need. Not even want, but need. Getting to purchase these items myself made it that much more real and it felt that much better. I have participated in things like this before, such as the holiday toy drive in middle school, where a friend and I would race through the aisles of target the day after Black Friday to get as many toys as possible: hundreds and hundreds of toys. And when we left, it was not with a few toys, but with a carful of toys. It was so exciting to see just how many peoples' holidays we could improve. After experiencing this for the first time, this became one of my favorite parts of the holiday; it's as rewarding as getting presents yourself.

Photo credit: http://www.wichitat4t.org/Web%20Pictures/toyrunpile.jpg